Hat sanitizer



June 17, 1941. J. H. JAMES 2,246,135

HAT SANITIZER Filed Jan. 9, 1940 llll 5 llnlilfi 7 WM 3 W L M/ A TTORNEv.

Patented June 17, 1941 nnirsssrarss P TENT QFFICE HAT ssmrrznn Jay HomerJames, Los Angeles, Calif. Application January 9, 1940, Serial No.313,055

1 claim. (Cl. 250-51) My invention relates to the treatment of hats forsanitizing them after being used by different persons or being tried onor handled by persons in fitting hats to different customers in stores,particularly to prevent spreading scalp diseases of any kind.

In my invention I make use of ultra violet rays with which the hats aretreated for the purpose of sanitation.

The ultra violet light ray is known to have great potency for killingthe bacteria of the types that might be associated by the contacts ofhuman tissues with the materials of which hats are made.

However, the ultra violet ray is also a serious menace to the eyes ofthe persons who look directly at it. However, when this light is causedto pass through normal glass the injurious effects, as relates to theeyes of a person, are prevented by those features of injurious characterof the ultra violet ray being filtered out or dammed off as those rayspass through the glass.

In order to use a sanitizing feature involving ultra violet rays oflight it is necessary for the protection of the eyes of the person doingthe work to be completely guarded against the direct rays. and this is asafety object of my invention. The main object is to prevent scalpdisease.

Other objects of the invention relate to the convenience for the use ofmy sanitizer brought about by the new and peculiar construction of myinvention as hereinafter set forth and described.

The chief use of my invention relates to locations in stores where hatsare sold and in presence of purchasers of hats. Buyers usually try onseveral hats before buying any. They naturally understand that most anyhat that one may try on has perhaps been previously tried on by othersbefore they do so. Thus if the sales clerk sanitizes a hat in thepresence of the customer, either before or after the customer tries iton, he becomes convinced that those hats are sanitary. This is of greatvalue in selling hats.

To be of real service as above, a sanitizer must be neat and attractivein appearance and have.

a transparent enclosure permitting the view of the hat from any point ofobservation during the work of sanitizing and at the same time it is ofgreat advantage for a purchaser to look at the hat when in the sanitizerin a position simulating that when the hat is mounted on the head of theperson.

An object of my invention is to arrange my constructions so that therewill be the least visible obstructions possible to viewing the hat whileit is being sanitized. At the same time to guard against damage to theeyesight of the viewers.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is aperspective view of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section ofthe apparatus. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the quartz tubes in which thelight is produced. Fig. 4 is a vertical edge view of the safety switchassociated with and carried by the door of the glass box in which thetreatment takes place. This figure is on line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5shows a connection of the electrical conductors that extend across underthe bottom of the glass box, and this view is on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

The apparatus is provided with a glass box having the top plate of glassI and the back side vertical wall 2 and the vertical end walls 3 also ofglass. The bottom wall 4 is made of glass or wood as desired.

This box is provided with a glass door 5 hinged at 6 to a base chamberportion of the apparatus I Which base chamber may be made of anysuitable material, preferably and here shown as being made of wood of afinished class such as is common with high class furniture.

The ultra violet rays are produced by quartz tubes 8 containing the gaswhich will produce the ultra violet rays when acted upon by a suitableelectric current. These tubes 8 are electrically connected by theelectric conductors 9 extending through bottom 4 of the box, and intothe space of the base chamber 1 to a transformer ID. This transformer I0is energized through the conductor wires II and I2 from any suitableelectric current supply to produce through the transformer I0 the rightelectric current to produce the desired ultra violet rays. A switch I3in this circuit of I I and I2 is controlled by a push rod I4 in the basei of the apparatus.

The apparatus is arranged so that the circuit of II and I2 is alsocontrolled by a secondary switch l9 indicated in Fig. 4, of a conductingcircuit composed of tinfoil I6 which is secured on the inside andentirely around the opening to the glass box and passing under the base4 of the box.

The secondary switch I9 is provided with a contact piece H, see Fig. 4,connected to the glass door 5 of the box. This contact piece I1 isengaged when the switch is closed by the contact pieces I8 which aresecured on the inside of the glass top I, as indicated by I9 in Fig. 1.The contact pieces I8 are connected to the tinfoil strips I6, asindicated in Fig.4. These tinfoil strips it are connected to the wiresII and I2 at the bottom of the box at the lower right corner of Fig. 2by means of 2 pieces of copper plate 20, see Fig. 5, on to which thereis lapped the ends of the tinfoil strips I6. These plate pieces 29 aremade of copper or other suitable material with which to make the contactof the tinfoil strips l6. Bolts I extend down from plates 20 throughbottom 4 and are connected to the conductors H and I2.

So long as the glass door 5 is open the secondary switch I9 is also openand thus no current can pass through the quartz tube 8, but when thedoor is closed that secondary switch closes the tinfoil circuit asindicated by l9 at the top of the box. However, in service before anycurrent passes through the quartz tubes 8 the switch l4 must be closed.

There is provided the base piece 2'3 made of brass or other suitablematerial, chromium plated, on which the hat to be treated is placed.This base piece 23 is concave in its main portion 24 for the purpose ofbecoming a reflector to reflect the light rays upwards to the hat 25.

In the use of the apparatus when the door 5 is open there can no lightescape to the eyes from i prevents injury to the eyes of the personsusing the apparatus, which is a great desideratum.

What I claim is:

In an apparatus of the class described, a chamber having glass wallsmounted on a horizontal base member, a seat on said base member adaptedto hold a hat in upright position simulating a position as worn by aperson, an ultra violet light located within the central area of saidhat seat in close association with the inside of the sweat band of a hatwhen on the said seat, a door opening in the said glass walled chamberand a glass door for said opening, said door hinged on the edge of saidhorizontal base, an electrical switch member located in the said glasswalled chamber at the top of said door opening, contact switch membersof the said switch spaced apart from each other leaving a gap betweenthem and electrical conductor lines extending from said contact membersaround the said door opening and down below said horizontal base memberand connected to an electrical current switch located below the saidbase member, a contact switch member fixed to the top of said door andadapted to contact with and close to the aforementioned gap of theswitch members located at the top of said door opening, thus closingthat circuit switch as the door is closed and opening the said switch onthe opening of said door.

JAY HOMER JAMES.

